At a trip to the Otsego County Fair in Morris, I thought I would be denied my first glimpse of the sheep olympics when I arrived there one hot night looking for a story. The honorary fair director Bob Dutcher said the event was rescheduled out of concern for the animals.

"It is a lot of fun," he assured me. With 4-H-ers often dressing up in costumes and putting their animals through a series of obstacles to show their skills, all participants get a prize.

I got to see a possible participant about a month later at The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown. An interpreter asked my family if they wanted to see a sheep go through the olympic events. I quickly said, "Yes."

While the teen didn’t wear a sheep costume, the animal went through her motions, even squatting to go under a low bar.

I hope to see the event in full at next year’s Otsego County Fair.

___

Harpersfield Superintendent and county board Chairman James Eisel said that action Delaware County took in the 1990s has paid off when it comes to the condition of county bridges.

The 21st Century Bridge program was approved because the county needed to do something about the condition of its bridges.

The county faced a big problem keeping up with the findings of the state Department of Transportation, which indicated many deficiencies requiring repair.

At the time, the county had a high average of bridge deficiencies. But after more than decade of working on bridges maintenance with a plan designed by county Public Works Commissioner Wayne Reynolds and aided by a dedicated fund using county sales-tax revenue, "we are in good shape," he said.

The county has one of the highest bridge rankings in the state, he said.

___

Sidney Water Commissioner Jim Nordberg is looking forward to the upcoming municipal water competition at the New York State Fair. The village gained the right to attend the competition after winning a recent regional competition in Cortland.

"We must be doing something right because we have been there so many times," Nordberg said.

They started competing in 1989, he said. That was the last time Sidney won the state meet. But the water has won the regional competition seven times and the county contest 10 times, he said.

In the early 1990s, he said, he started to submit water in glass jugs because other containers impart a taste to the water.

___

Long-time SUCO instructor Sanford Gordon was visiting friends in town recently. He first came to the State University College at Oneonta in 1950 when he was hired as an economics instructor. At that time it was primarily a teacher’s college with one main building. By the time he left in 1972 for a position with State University of New York central administration, Sanford was chairman of the economics department and SUCO had grown into a full-fledged liberal arts college with a campus similar to the present one.

"Oneonta still has a Victorian charm," he said.

He has seen a lot of changes in its makeup, but he expects it will remain an educational center into the future.

Both "Hartwick and SUCO are an economic force in the community," he said, and he doesn’t see any industry coming in to change that.

___

Staff Writer Mark Boshnack covers schools and agriculture.